"I’d always imagined walking through Disneyland and you can see the teacups, you can see people on the boat or the train or the roller coasters."
She was among the 700 children who have had a "trip of a lifetime" in the past 30 years thanks to Koru Care, a children’s charity that provides special experiences for children with serious and ongoing medical conditions or disabilities.
One year before the trip, at 11, Ms McEwen was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome.
An inherited connective tissue disorder affecting many organs, especially the heart, the syndrome can lead to aortic aneurysms, heart valve disease and other heart problems.
Due to the seriousness of her illness, Ms McEwen was one of the children the paediatric team at Southland Hospital suggested join the Koru Care group, which was heading to the United States in 2016.
"I was at the paediatric ward to have another checkup and we had this really nice doctor, but he had this smile on this one day.
"I was like, ‘What’s wrong?’ — I was freaking out.
"But then he told me and I was so happy.
"I immediately started to draw a picture of myself on a roller coaster and gave it to him and then I told everyone I was going to Disneyland."
The memories and friendships made during this trip have helped her go through the toughest days of her illness.
"When I would get really bad anxiety or I was super nervous, I was waiting for an operation, and you’re just waiting in your room for them to come and take you — I always imagined Disneyland.
The charity Koru Care will marks its 30th anniversary in 2024.
Koru Care Southland Charitable Trust director Kevin Reynolds said it was the most rewarding and satisfying feeling to be able to make the dreams of those children come true.
The Southland branch promotes yearly travel to Auckland, Australia and to the United States for about 10 children referred by the Southland Hospital’s paediatric team.
Nurses and medical professionals accompany them as support, he said.
"We have a ratio of two children to one support person.
"It is very special.
"I can see the expression on the children’s faces [when they get into Disneyland gates] and that’s ... what keeps me going, and going over all the time."
Mr Reynolds has been part of every Koru Care Southland trip.
He said he had gone to Disneyland about 130 times.
He said the feeling of providing some relief for those children was hard to describe and he had countless stories from those 30 years.
However, there was one he always remembered.
He once asked a girl if she was looking forward to returning to Southland.
"Yes, I am looking forward to going home to see my mum and dad," she said.
"But I’m not looking forward to going home because I’m going to miss the kids that I’ve met, and I’ve got to have my 23rd operation when I get back home."
Mr Reynolds said it hit him how lucky some were.
After recently returning from Australia, where he took 14 Southland children, the Koru Care Southland team were gearing up to take another group to Disneyland on August 17.
Mr Reynolds felt proud the charity could provide a trip of a lifetime for those children with illness and he wanted to thank the Southland community who were always willing to help.
"Auckland and Christchurch both do America each year, while Dunedin do only Australia.
"We are the only ones in New Zealand that do two trips a year and it’s through the generosity of the Southland public."
